The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday established the Department of International Economic Affairs to pursue economic diplomacy, which is increasingly important in China's diplomatic layout.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said at the inaugural ceremony that the new department will help with China's increasing involvement in international economic cooperation and governance in political and diplomatic views and implementation of a mutually beneficial opening-up strategy.

It will also safeguard China's national development interests and economic security, and contribute to world economic growth, said the minister.

The last time the ministry to set up a new department was in 2009, when the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs was created.